Harry Potter and His Destiny repost & continued
by Mionefan
Summary: Post OOTP, Independent Harry. Harry receives a gift from his mother along with a marriage contract. Will the gift help Harry in the road to his destiny? Anti Dumbledore Anti Ron.
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters and locations belong to JKR and her agents, I'm only playing in her sandbox._

_Rated: M._

_Ships: HarryPotter/Susan Bones_

_Genre: Adventure/Romance_

_First five chapters are by vicky0958. I've made some corrections to the original text and with his permission am reposting and continuing his story._

**Harry Potter and his Destiny**

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

It was a clear and beautiful day in Surrey. Everyone was outside enjoying the weather. All along Privet Drive people were enjoying the beautiful day. Everywhere you looked there were smiles and laughter. Everywhere except in the garden of number 4. There, weeding the garden was a boy with shaggy black hair and a scar etched on his forehead. His name was Harry Potter. He had only returned from school a week ago, but was ready to be anywhere but here. He was given the chore of weeding and replanting the garden. As he was working he was thinking about his life, or lack thereof.

"Why me" Harry asked himself. "How can I possibly be the one?" The more he thought about it, the more confused and angry he became. "There are many witches and wizards that are more powerful and experienced than me, so why do I have to be the one to do this?" he asked himself. "If only Sirius were here, he would be able to help me understand."

His thoughts wandered to Sirius, his godfather. As his thoughts raced, his anger and confusion grew. _"I wish I could be someone else; someone who is in control of their future. I don't even have control of my life right now, how can I have the future I want if everyone else makes all the decisions for me? Why can't I get anyone to listen to what I want? I wish I was someone that people would listen to."_

What about his own mental health? Did Dumbledore think that by keeping secrets from him he'd be safe? In addition, when he returned to Dumbledore's office after the battle, he was kind enough to decide to reveal the prophecy to him just right after his godfather died.

"_I would have studied harder and applied myself to the Occlumency lessons with Snape if I had known the reason for it," _thought Harry bitterly. The Occlumency lessons were a disaster; there was no doubt about that. When Snape caught him looking in his Pensive, he saw a memory of a younger Snape being humiliated by James Potter, which made him resent the fact that his father was a bully. Harry hated feeling helpless or trapped; which was the main feeling inside him after he heard the prophecy from Dumbledore.

Later that night...

Harry lay in his bed after practicing his Occlumency. A week earlier, on the train home, Hermione had given him a package containing a book on Occlumency and a book on meditation. He had read both by the second day back. He was surprised at how much easier it was when he had instructions he could understand. Having "CLEAR YOUR MIND" yelled at you seconds before an attack did not count as instructions. Would it have killed Snape to tell him about meditation techniques instead of jumping in and expecting him to know these things? Harry actually thought he might be getting the hang of Occlumency. Of course he hadn't tested it yet and he knew he would have to strengthen his shields but at least it was a start. If he had the books earlier in the school year then he was sure he would've mastered it by now.

As he lay there he began to drift off to sleep when he was startled awake by a burst of flames. With wand pointed and a spell on his lips, he realized with relief that it was Fawkes, Albus Dumbledore's phoenix. "Good God Fawkes," he gasped with heart racing, "Don't do that!" Fawkes trilled with what sounded like laughter as he flew to Harry and perched on his bed. "What are you doing here?" asked Harry after he caught his breath. He then noticed a letter attached to Fawkes as he held out his leg. Harry removed the letter and read it.

_Harry,_

_I trust things are going well for you. I know you don't wish to be at the Dursleys but it is for your protection. I must remind you to not wander far from the house; you must stay close. I've stopped your subscription to the paper: you need to deal with your godfather's death. Take this time to grieve and pull yourself together._

_I have already spoken with Professor Snape and he will be continuing your instruction in Occlumency. I am a bit disappointed with your progress. Professor Snape will arrive at the Dursley's in one week. You will have lessons twice a week until the end of summer. I expect you to work hard to master Occlumency. If you work hard and progress well, I may let you visit Diagon Alley to pick up your school supplies._

_Albus Dumbledore_

White hot anger spiked through Harry "HOW DARE HE!" he yelled. Fawkes started and trilled a soothing melody. A few moments later Harry felt calmer. "Thanks Fawkes," he said. He slumped on his bed and re-read the letter. When he thought of Snape he felt his anger returning. "What is Dumbledore thinking; he knows how much I hate Snape. Why would he send him here?" As he was pondering this he had a realization, he... didn't... care. Dumbledore didn't care what he wanted. Obviously I wouldn't be here if he cared about my feelings.

_Headmaster,_

_I am fine. I have been practicing Occlumency and am getting better thanks to some books I read. DO NOT send Snape here! I'll write if I have any dreams._

_Harry Potter_

With that done, he attached the letter to Fawkes and ran his hand down his feathery back. "Please take this to Dumbledore," he said. In a burst of flames Fawkes was gone, leaving Harry to his thoughts once again. He lay on his bed and drifted off.

x-o-x-o-x-o-x


	2. Messages & Gifts from the Past

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters and locations belong to JKR and her agents, I'm only playing in her sandbox._

_Rated: M._

_Ships: HarryPotter/Susan Bones_

_Genre: Adventure/Romance_

_First five chapters are by vicky0958_

**Harry Potter and his Destiny**

**Chapter 2: Messages and Gifts from the Past.**

Harry woke up early the next morning, planning to get out of Dumbledore's control and live his life how he wanted to. He decided to go to Diagon Alley first to shop for his training to meet his destiny.

Showering to get an early start, he came back to Dudley's second bedroom, as he never considered it his. He was shocked to see a house elf sitting on his bed, obviously waiting for him. _"Oh no, not again,"_ thought Harry, seeing a female house elf. She had long pointed ears, just like Dobby, but was smaller and wore a neat maroon uniform with a crest emblazoned on the front.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Harry asked the small elf.

"I am Sandy sir, I work for the Potter Family, sir. My father was given this Pensieve with this memory for you when the time is right sir and my father told me about it when he died sir," replied the house elf, handing the Pensieve along with the memory vial. "You have to place it on the ground and tap it with your wand sir; when you're finished call me sir," said Sandy and disappeared with a pop.

Harry put the Pensieve on the floor and activated it after pouring the memory into the bowl of the Pensieve by tapping it twice. As soon as it is activated, the shape of a woman came out of the Pensieve, which Harry recognized as his mother. Harry also thought that the Pensieve was an advanced model from the one he saw that Dumbledore had in his office.

"Mum," Harry whispered, looking hungrily once more upon the face of the woman who gave him life.

"_My son," _Lily began, her voice full of sorrow, her eyes showing her sadness.

"_I realize that we are in a war for our lives, but sometimes I wish I never had to worry about things like this. I wish I could look forward to watching you grow up and become the man I can see you to be."_

Lily sighed, her gaze taking a far away quality.

"_Not many know it, but the Evans line is not an entirely Muggle one as some would say. We are actually descendents of two very powerful lines._

"_Unfortunately, both lines active side died out hundreds of years ago, only the squib side survived to pass down the genetic code. The DNA hoped to find a suitable descendant to bestow its gifts on, hopefully reawakening the lines._

"_Alas, I am the result, as I am not a very powerful witch, just extremely clever and agile,"_ Lily smiled again, this time with a hint of smugness, _"I only received one of the lines._

"_Even though I was sorted into Gryffindor, I could have easily have passed as a Ravenclaw. My blood made it so._

"_So many times I cursed the name Ravenclaw in my years at Hogwarts; the pain it brought me was immense, but now I know the rewards as well. I find myself unable to be bitter over what amounts to a small discomfort, in the grand scheme of things._

"_You see my son, Rowena had a very powerful gift. It's not magic, but it is tied to the inner core; some wizards call it the inner eye,"_ Lily coughed to cover up saying a name.

Harry caught it though, and smiled to himself, figuring it was Trelawney. After all, he had enough classes with that nutcase to know how many times in one day the 'Inner Eye' could be exercised.

"_It's actually a completely Muggle gift, as many from the non-magical world can tap into it. What made it so special in Rowena was that it was connected to her magical core instead of just her personal one like most Muggles._

Lily contemplated her hands for a moment. _"I have the same gift and I think I understand. I'm going to tell you about it, for it concerns you, so I took precautions so I can be of help for you when you are in desperate times. I asked the house elf bound to me to give you this letter when Sirius dies or you become of age. I don't know all about the future but I know that you'll be facing a lot of hard times ahead. That's why your father and I have made a marriage contract with the Bones' as no one should face desperate times alone. I'm sorry for taking your free will to marry whom you want to. But be comforted that she is your soul mate."_

Again, Lily smiled smugly. _"Tell the house elf that brought this Pensieve that the "Potter line will live 'till the end of the world." She will know what to do. Read the book I wrote before you do any thing else."_

"_I've seen your father and I die. It's okay. Some things must happen for other things to come into effect. I've told your father, which is why this Pensieve is sitting before you."_

Lily seemed to break down a little there, tears streamed down her cheeks and she choked back a sob. _"Who am I kidding? It's not okay; it's not fair, it's not even right! But it is the only course of action your father and I have, otherwise…" _she trailed off.

Shaking her head, she brought herself back to her task at hand.

"_Harry, you will have a…convoluted destiny, one we can not interfere with; no one but fate can, since they were the ones who chose you to take up this mantle._

"_I leave to you my son, the knowledge that you are more than the sum of your parts. There are things in the vaults below Gringotts, things that haven't seen the light of day in thousands of years. They will help you._

"_I can do no more for you my son. Never doubt you are strong. Never doubt that you can and will succeed._

"_Contact your soul mate as soon as you can as she will also be the last of her line by the time you see this and Harry, never trust anyone except your soul mate. You can trust the Goblins to some extent but be careful about how you act with a certain old man, he has ways to know and detect things that no one else can._

"_Never despair, for with great pain, and loss, comes great rewards. The fates are never one sided, my son. They will test you, try you and pull you through what seems to be the very bottom of hell, and when you show your self true, they will reward you beyond your dreams."_

Lily looked up to the ceiling, her face radiant.

"_I will watch you, and root for you. Maybe one day we will meet, as we should. I love you son. Don't let others tell you something else."_

With those last words, his mother's image disappeared from above the Pensieve, but Harry knew that he could see his mother whenever he wanted. He also had come to a conclusion that someone else must have been there as it was not from his mother's perspective as all other memories are.

Harry sat there on his bed, his eyes tightly shut with silent tears trickling down his cheeks.

"I'll be strong mother, you will be proud."

"Sandy," Harry called, after wiping his tear stained face with the towel beside him.

"Yes Master"

"Sandy I want you to call me Harry, no Master or Sir business: that is an order. Now, my mother told me to tell you that 'The Potter line will live till the end of the world'." After saying the password or what ever it was, he realized that he would live through the confrontation with Voldemort.

"I understand Ma...Harry. I will be back shortly," said Sandy and disappeared with a pop.

Harry sat on his bed thinking of what his mother had told him about her life as a seer and also about his life. He was at first angry with his parents that they had made a marriage contract with Susan Bones, but he understood that his parents wanted him to be happy in his life, although he would be facing hard times. He also understood that the power of love, which he had in spades, helped him save Sirius in his third year. Thinking on everything that happened, he decided to take his life back under his own control.

He also decided that if he was to take control of his life, it had to be done discreetly. He didn't want Dumbledore to ruin his life.

With a pop, Sandy had returned.

"Harry this is the book that Mistress Lily gave to my father along with this trunk. My father has told me that you have to read the book before entering the trunk."

"Thank you Sandy, could you make me some breakfast while I read this book."

"Your breakfast will be ready in a jiffy." And with that, Sandy disappeared with a pop.

Opening the book Harry found a note from his mother.

_Dear Harry,_

_I have to tell you some things before you get what I prepared for you and your soul mate. You have to bond with the elf that brought this book and the trunk. I know that the elf's family is bound to the Potter family, but if you bond with the elf again, then it forms a bond that can be between you both so that anything you think, the elf will be able to do it with out you calling the house elf._

_The trunk that was given to you has two compartments, the first one acts as a normal trunk, which is the only one others can see with out being keyed. The second compartment has a living apartment with three bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a library which is empty, a potions lab, a muggle exercise room, again it is empty and a dueling room. The specialty of the trunk is that the whole of the second compartment is made to bring time to a standstill. That means you can spend a century in the trunk but when you come out it will be the same second you went in. I advise you against spending more than a year in the trunk as it causes severe mental problems once you come out and it may cause you to go insane. The other property is you will age the same as the time on the outside, which is nothing. The Ministry cannot detect magic performed inside the trunk._

_It took me two and half years to finish the trunk with the help of my friends Alice Longbottom, your Godmother and Amelia Bones, whose niece you'll be marrying. There is no other soul that knows about this trunk. So I ask you to make this trunk available to Alice's son and his soul mate._

_Now, onto other matters: you'll have to go to Gringotts and get the books from the Evans and Potter vaults. But remember that you cannot take out any money or jewelry from the vaults until you come of age. Ask the Goblins for your statements if you are not getting them, and also about marriage contracts so that you will have proof when you talk with your soul mate. The contract can be dissolved if both the parties agree; that is you and Susan Bones._

_Get all the things you'll need for training before you go into the trunk. This book has the entire spell work and potions I created for the Department of Mysteries. It also contains spells that I never submitted to the Department. All of the work I've done will be useful for you in one way or another, so use them well. The first thing you have to learn after going in to the trunk is Occlumency._

_Remember that your father and I love you son._

_Your mother,_

_Lily (Tiger)._

Harry had tears streaming down his face by the time finished the letter, which made him determined to defeat Voldemort and all the future Dark lords in his lifetime so that all the people could live in peace and harmony.

Harry then began to write out the things he would need:

_1) Books on every subject._

_2) Weapons._

_3) Exercise Equipment to get fit._

_4) Clothes that fit._

_5) Every Potion Ingredient known to man._

_6) A spare wand if possible._

_7) Groceries to feed ten people for ten years._

_8) Get bank statements._

_9) Write to Neville and Susan._

_10) Bond with Sandy and if possible with more elves (Dobby and Winky)._

_11) Find someone who can teach Martial arts, Sword fighting and other weapons._

_12) Someone to teach Occlumency and Legilimens._

With that done, he proceeded to eat the breakfast provided by Sandy. After breakfast, he asked how to bond to a house elf, then performed the bond after asking if she was willing to be bonded to him.

"Sandy I want you to go to Hogwarts and ask if Dobby or Winky want to work for the Potter Family and if they want to bond to the Potter Family; then tell them to meet me in the evening after I finish my shopping," Harry said without taking a breath.

"Ok Harry, I will do as you asked," replied Sandy and disappeared with a pop.

After Sandy left, Harry took out his wand, his trust fund vault key and his father's Invisibility cloak and left for Diagon Alley.

x-o-x-o-x-o-x


	3. Chapter 3: Shopping

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters and locations belong to JKR and her agents, I'm only playing in her sandbox._

_Rated: M._

_Ships: HarryPotter/Susan Bones_

_Genre: Adventure/Romance_

_First five chapters are by vicky0958_

**

* * *

Harry Potter and his Destiny**

**Chapter 3: Shopping**

Harry arrived at the Leaky Cauldron about 7:30 am. He walked in and took a seat facing the north wall since he did not want to push his luck at being recognized. Gringotts would be open at 8:00 am, so he had a bit of time to kill. While Harry was waiting for the butterbeer he had just ordered, he heard two familiar voices indicating that two people were entering the Leaky Cauldron. He immediately ducked into a private booth and a minute later, while looking around the pub, he saw them sitting in a nearby booth. Harry immediately took out the extendable ears, which were one of the Twins' creations that he always carried with him after hearing the conversation about him in St. Mungos last year visiting Mr. Weasley.

Hermione and Ron had come to Diagon Alley, as Dumbledore wanted them out of the Orders' way. Ron was complaining how he could not see what Ginny was writing to Dean. Hermione on the other hand informed him that it sure beat being cooped up at Grimmauld place like their previous year.

Ron was talking to Hermione about how they had to report everything that the 'Great Harry Potter' does, to Dumbledore. Harry was able to pick them up easily; he made a note to thank the Twins for their invention. Dumbledore apparently asked Ron to tell him about all the things that Harry was doing after his first year. He tried to get Hermione to tell him about Harry, but Hermione would have none of it.

Hermione on the other hand said she had not been and would not be reporting to Dumbledore at all, despite his playing the 'it's for his own good' card. Hermione apparently felt guilty about going behind Harry's back like Ron had. She then stated that if he ever found out, he would go ballistic. Yet Dumbledore kept him in the dark, already knowing that he was having visions, and why he had to learn Occlumency.

Hermione then told Ron that she did not think he could take another betrayal. Harry then heard Ron tell Hermione that she worried too much. Ron reminded her that he was good at spying because no one knew that he was reporting to Dumbledore. He reminded her that Dumbledore knew what he was doing and that she should not worry about the situation.

"Ron, you should know that after what happened in the Department of Mysteries, my parents are pulling me from Hogwarts and we're moving to Australia," she whispered quietly with a sob.

At this point, Harry was close to completely losing it. He had to get some fresh air or else he would be seen and there might be one more dead person around. Hermione leaving was the last straw. He would miss her for the true friend she was. Looking around to make sure that no one was watching him, Harry put on his invisibility cloak before retrieving the extendable ears and making his way to the entrance to Diagon Alley.

Harry waited for somebody to open the portal, since there was no reason to attract unnecessary attention, which would be caused by the entrance opening on its own. Meanwhile he spent the time waiting to calm himself and get a grip on his emotions. It was now very obvious that Dumbledore had bought Ron's loyalty, which caused Harry to feel truly completely cut off from anyone and everything he knew.

Finally Bill and Fleur came to the portal obviously going to their work at Gringotts. Carefully avoiding them, Harry proceeded to Diagon Alley. He carefully walked the streets, making sure that he didn't bump into anybody. Harry needed to get to Gringotts fast, but the last thing he needed was to be recognized. Fifteen minutes later he was past the entrance to the lobby and made his way to the closest public bathroom. Harry took his invisibility cloak off, and made sure that his makeup was intact. He looked around for a counter and when he found what he was looking for, he went to stand in line to wait his turn.

Harry stood in front of the counter and made a quick sweep of the area. He wanted to make sure that there was no one who could recognize his voice, and said, "Pardon me sir. I would like a tally of all my assets before going to my vault."

The Goblin looked down at him for a minute, and bellowed, "Key Please!"

Harry handed his key to the Goblin who took the key and then crossed referenced it back to his ledger and said, "Ah, Mr. Potter, we did not expect you to be here so soon. We just sent our letter this morning."

Harry looked at the Goblin with a very confused look on his face and said, "What letter?"

The Goblin replied, "The letter concerning the last will and testament of one Sirius Black."

It felt like there was now a ball of ice in Harry's stomach and because of it, it took Harry a minute before saying, "Sorry, I was not aware that such things could be handled so quickly. Where must I go?"

The Goblin gave him an odd look and said, "Please follow the corridor on the North wing and go to the 5th door on your right."

Fair enough, Harry thought. He grabbed his key and followed the Goblin's directions. Harry got to the 5th door, and looked at the plaque, _**Will & Trusts**_.

He knocked on the door and a loud voice said, "Enter."

Harry carefully opened the door and made his way to the Goblin sitting behind the reception desk. He looked at the Goblin and to his utter shock recognized who it was.

Harry said, "Griphook? Is that you? I didn't know that you were promoted."

At seeing what Harry could best describe as a curious stare, he quickly continued by saying, "Sorry, didn't mean to offend you."

Griphook shook his head and replied, "That's not it sir. It's just that most wizards never bother to recognize a Goblin's name, let alone what they look like. Most individuals don't give us the time of day sir; I was promoted last year." Griphook finished his last sentence with what looked like a bewildered look on his face.

Harry looked at Griphook with a sad face and answered back, "Well I'm not most wizards, Griphook. I mean over the years, I have become friends with a house elf, a werewolf, a centaur, a half giant, and with your permission I would also like to consider you a friend and congratulations on your promotion."

The Goblin looked dumbstruck for a second but smiled, or what passed for a smile on a Goblin. Griphook finally found his voice and said, "I heard from some of our sources that you were indeed a unique wizard, Mr. Potter. I would also like to be considered your friend if you want, too. Just so you know what is going on, I will be your solicitor today. I will officiate for the Will reading and for any other business that you may need. Before we start, there is a letter that was left by one Sirius Orion Black."

After finishing the reading of the Will, in which he left everything to him, Harry just sat there near tears, trying to keep his emotions under control. After all it would do Harry no good to break down and cry right now when he knew that this would happen eventually.

After thinking for a minute, Harry asked Griphook why he had never been told of the Potter and Evans vaults. Griphook told him that he was supposed to have been told of their existence by his trustee when he turned 11 years of age. If he was not told, then under the laws agreed too by Gringotts and the Wizengamot in the financial decrees of 1492, paragraph 6, subsection E, and he quoted: "The requirements of the trustee are to notify the inheritor of his family holdings within a year of his eleventh birthday and about the owner's vault, the trustee will be fined," end quote. "As no one knew about the Evans vault and Mrs. Potter had asked to keep it a secret until you were to take control, you can therefore legally remove the trustee's access to your accounts and transfer control to you."

Harry hissed, "Do it immediately!"

Griphook replied, "Sir it will take several hours to get the paper work completed, do you wish to wait?"

Harry answered, "Yes, there are still many things to do over here. Griphook, I plan on doing a lot of shopping, both in the magical and the muggle world and will likely be making some very expensive purchases. Do you have some kind of system established where I don't have to carry a huge bag of Galleons everywhere I go?"

Griphook smiled and said, "Yes sir, we have a muggle credit card equivalent to a platinum rating. We can put up to a 20,000 Galleon spending limit on it. We don't have a magical equivalent, but we can tie a bag to your vault of choice, so you can retrieve the required amount directly from the vault."

Harry gave Griphook a feral smile and replied, "That will more that satisfy my needs Griphook, I'll take it all."

Griphook activated the Gringotts seal and asked Harry to put his thumb on the silver looking square at the top left hand corner of each card. Harry completed the ritual and felt a glow coming off the card as well as the bag. Griphook continued and said, "Now Mr. Potter your card and bag have been activated. They have been imprinted with your magical signature. No one will be able to use these except you and if you lose them, they will return to you automatically."

Harry looked up at Griphook and realized that he had been holding his breath and said, "Thank you Griphook, I think we will do very well together. I will be going down to visit the Potter and Evans vaults while you finish the paper work. When I come back we will sign the remaining documents."

Harry thought for a minute and said, "Griphook do you know if the contents of the Black vault have been transferred to the Potter vault yet?"

Griphook replied, "Yes Sir, We finished this morning."

Harry smiled and replied, "Very well, thank you and it will be great if you call me Harry."

Griphook shook his head slightly before saying, "Custom requires me to call you Mr. Potter." and then he bellowed: "Zorak, Mr. Potter will need a ride to the Potter and Evans family vaults."

Zorak came to attention and replied, "Right away Sir."

Harry followed Zorak to the cart, which would take them down to the Potter vault. It took a while longer than normal due to the fact that the Potter vault was deeper below Gringotts than Harry's trust vault.

They exited the cart, and made their way to a small dais. It was made up of a four-foot black marble pillar with an obsidian bowl carved into the top. A small ritual knife sat beside it. The goblin instructed Harry that he would have to take the knife and allow some of his blood to be absorbed by the bowl. By doing this, it will cause the ancient protection wards to either acknowledge him as the true Heir of the Potter bloodline or kill him. Harry did as he was told and within seconds, there was a large grinding sound, as if the vault had not been open for a very long time. There was a strong whooshing sound as fresh air suddenly filled a large cavern.

Harry had imagined all sorts of things when he found out that he was the heir to a purebloods vault. Those thoughts were nothing compared to the reality of the situation. The moment he walked past the vault doors, the first thought that came to mind was the enormous size of the vault. The whole hall was filled with stacks upon stacks of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts.

Harry also noticed on the left side of the vault there were boxes, filled with diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, and amethysts. Further down, on the left hand side of the wall, there was a huge bookshelf filled with books that Harry could not differentiate. In front of the bookcase was a single book on a podium, which gave details of the books contained in the bookcase. Zorak mentioned that some of these books had never been in mass publication and thus were extremely rare.

Harry kept walking when he noticed a very old trunk lying at the end of the vault. Upon inspection, it looked to be a three-compartment trunk, which was confirmed when Harry opened each compartment and found them to be empty. He picked it up to store all the things he was going to take with him and then walked over to the bookshelves, starting to select books on every field of magic available in his library. Many of these were books carried over from the Black estate.

Harry started by choosing books on Charms, and Transfiguration. He then noticed a potions book called Ancient Potions, which was also known as the Grand Bible of Potions. After this, he picked books on both basic and advanced Ancient Runes and Arithmancy along with Magical Theory, Apparating, DADA, and Dark Arts. He went into his trunk and stored all of the books on the available bookshelves. Harry ended up picking out what he considered to be a rather large range of books that would cover almost anything that he could think of before shutting the compartment.

Harry figured he was done for now and said, "All right Zorak, lets go to the Evans Vault and then back to see Griphook." The Evans vault contained only books and furniture, but some of the books were very old. He decided to take some of the more interesting titles and would look at those later. By the time they reached the lobby and proceeded to Griphook's office to finish off the remaining paper work, Harry had more then doubled the number of books that he had taken from the Potter vault. Upon entrance to Griphook's office, the goblin asked, "Mr. Potter were you able to get what you needed from your vaults?"

Harry smiled and replied, "Yes Griphook, Zorak was very helpful."

Griphook smiled back and replied, "Good, we have the documents ready to remove one Albus Dumbledore as your guardian and appoint yourself as trustee and myself as account manager. You will not need a guardian, or you may assign one of your own choosing. Please sign the following pages."

Harry signed the papers with a fanatical glee. Removing the headmaster as his trustee and guardian was the first step in many to come to remove that bastard from his life. He was now the sole trustee and declared Griphook to be henceforth his personal financial advisor, manager and official contact at Gringotts. Harry also asked that Albus Dumbledore not to be informed about the change in guardianship.

Griphook told him that by law he had up to August 20 to inform Dumbledore of the changes. Harry liked that date because he hoped to be well into his plans and be free of Dumbledore by the time the headmaster found out.

By the time he left Gringotts, it was 10:30 am. He decided to head over to Madam Malkins Robes for Fine Occasions. He needed a robe with a hood, as he was going into Knockturn Alley next. He had to go unnoticed as much as possible even with his current disguise. It never hurt to have extra protection, he thought. Harry entered the store and looked around a bit. He saw all manner of apparel and decided right there that he must ask Susan to help him in clothes shopping so that he could get to know her a little more. He noticed that they now had a whole section dedicated to muggle fashion.

"I need a robe with a hood and that preferably has a notice-me-not charm already placed on it," he said to the girl who came over to help him in his shopping.

By the time that Harry had paid for the robe and left the store he noticed that it was 11:30 am, which to Harry meant that he should get moving.

As Harry needed someone to help him with spying, he paused for a moment thinking about what the best option would be for him. Realizing that a rare snake would probably be the best option, Harry headed for the Magical Menagerie in the hopes of finding a snake that suited his needs. Drawing the hood over his head Harry moved carefully into the store, being careful to make sure that he did not bump into anyone along the way.

Weaving through the store Harry reached the back area where the rarest creatures were kept, and as luck would have it, Harry found an Occamy, a rare magical winged snake that was mostly found in either India or the Far East.

_§Hello.§_

The Snake whipped its head as if in great surprise and replied, §_You speak the language?§_

_§Yes, as evidenced by me speaking to you right now, I would like to extend my greeting to you and tell you that you are very beautiful. I was wondering if you had a name?§_ asked Harry.

The snake seemed very intrigued, and simply looked at him. Harry was starting to think that he had insulted the snake somehow.

Suddenly the snake bowed its head in his direction and said, _§The old one called me Narak, I am honored to meet you young one. It has been so very long that a master has spoken with me.§_

Harry was curious, _§I am sorry, but why are you calling me a master?§_

_§Because only snake speakers were our masters. I can remember a time when snake speakers were common. I do not understand this new place.§_

Harry thought back to his care of magical creature's lessons, but could honestly say he had never encountered a snake like him before. Harry looked back towards the snake and hissed, _§I have heard of your kind before but only in passing; as such I wonder what you are capable of.§_

The snake looked pleased with the compliment and hissed, _§We are capable of a couple of feats, young master.§_

_§Such as?§ _countered Harry.

_§When bonded to our master, we can turn invisible at will and no one will be able to detect that I am present as my aura is masked as well.§_

Harry was speechless; having a snake that could not be detected would be a huge advantage and before he could get much farther with his thoughts, he was brought back to reality by Narak's hissing.

_§Another of the advantages of being bonded with one of my species is that we create a telepathic link that allows our master to communicate with us no matter the distance.§_

Harry hissed, _§Your talents would indeed be very useful to me.§_Harry quickly realized the benefits of bonding with such a snake. Narak would certainly be an invaluable companion for Harry to have available.

Harry finally hissed, _§What do I have to do to bond with you great one?§_

_§Take a knife and nick your finger. Let five drops of your blood spill into my mouth. This will ensure that my venom will never harm you.§_

Harry asked the storeowner if he could sterilize a small blade and lend it to him. After assuring the storeowner that no harm would come to anyone and that he wanted to buy the Occamy, the owner complied. Seconds after Harry had let the required number of blood drops fall in Narak's mouth, the snake showed a deep burgundy red aura for about ten seconds before it faded. The storeowner then proceeded to heal the nick in Harry's finger. He then asked Narak if he would like to wrap himself around him for warmth.

_§Yes Master, this place is cold and I would rather be wrapped around something warm.§_

Narak crawled up his arm, and twisted himself such that his head was resting comfortably on his shoulder. In this fashion, Harry was able to hide him easily by simply pulling his hood up.

Upon returning to the counter the owner said, "Sir the price for the Occamy is one hundred Galleons"

Harry replied, "Here is an extra twenty Galleons to not mention what took place."

"Your secret is quite safe sir," the owner conveyed. He then put his thumbprint on the slip and spoke the wizard's oath; "I solemnly swear on my magic, that I will never reveal to anyone your appearance in my shop."

Before exiting the street, Harry made sure that his hood was pulled up, and that Narak was well hidden in the folds of his cloak. Upon exiting the menagerie Harry saw what looked like an interesting store just inside Knockturn Alley that specialized in knives and other muggle based items.

"Mr. Potter I didn't expect you in this part of the town." voice from behind Harry said. Harry in response drew his wand with a speed that the man didn't even have time to blink, before the wand is at his throat and emerald green eyes with fire in them boring into the eyes of a man six feet tall, with the man's wand in Harry's hand.

Without fear in his voice or eyes, Harry asked the man how he knew it was him and who he was, although he was a wreck on the inside by the discovery, Even though he had all sorts of illusion charms on the cloak he wore.

"Mr. Potter, those are the fastest reflexes I have seen in my life. As for who am I, I am Brian Zabini."

"Are you by chance related to Blaise Zabini?"

"I am his father," replied Mr. Zabini. "Now I cannot tell you how I identified you as it is one of the secrets that belong to my family. There is nothing that can fool my detection methods, but have no fear, I have no need to tell anyone that I saw you in my store. So what may I help you with?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but how about what you have for weapons?" asked Harry.

A couple of minutes later Harry was being shown a wide selection of weapons, including daggers, swords, and axes. Eventually Harry decided on two daggers, one that had a silver blade and the other a steel blade. These came with a set of cases that had disillusionment charms placed on them so that only the wearer or someone like Dumbledore or Moody would be able to know that they were present.

Once he was done there, he wanted to get to Ollivander's and see about getting another wand. Looking at his list, he noticed that his final stop for the day was at the magical trunk store. What he had in mind was quite unique, but if it were feasible, then his accommodation problems would be solved.

It was now 2:15 pm and Harry still had time to pick up all of his new clothes from Madam Malkins. Harry immediately set out for Ollivander's. After about ten minutes walking, Harry found himself standing in front of the shop. He entered and waited for Mr. Ollivander to make his entrance. Harry took his time to look around and thought to himself that the shop hadn't changed at all from his last time in the shop.

He mused that from the look of things it had probably not changed much since the time of Christ. Well he thought let's see if I can get another match. Harry proceeded to the front counter. There was nobody there so he waited, after about 10 minutes he decided to make him self-known.

"Is anybody here?" he asked.

Harry could hear a shuffle from the back. Ollivander came out to greet him. He looked at Harry for a few seconds and with a creepy smile said, "Ah Mr. Potter, how may I help you?"

Harry tried not to look too shaken at the fact that Ollivander had recognized him though his disguise, and after a few second said "How is it you recognize me through my disguise sir? I thought I was decently concealed."

Ollivander suddenly chuckled and said "Well dear boy, my glasses have some very specialized magic on them."

"You see Mr. Potter due to my business and the dangers due to certain elements of our world, I have to be able to see through concealment disguises and other concealment effects for my own safety."

"Now Mr. Potter how is your wand? Let's see, ah yes, 11 inch holly with a phoenix core, I trust that it is good order."

"My wand is fine sir, but I had some trouble in the past. You see, Voldemort's wand and mine have a certain connection due to them being brother wands and all and when we dueled; neither of us was able to properly cast spells due to the Priori Incantatem effect. You see sir, I need to be able to purchase a new wand so that I can duel him properly."

Ollivander thought about it for about 10 seconds and said, "I'm sorry Mr. Potter, but only Aurors are allowed a second wand, and even then it is only with Ministry approval to boot. I'm afraid that an underage wizard such as you would have no chance of getting another wand from me."

"Sincerely Mr. Potter, I do understand your dilemma, but you see, I also happen to be one of the few Ministry sanctioned wand distributor for all under age wizards and witches in the U.K. You see, Ministry auditors carefully monitor wand cores and magical wood supplies. If I were caught selling another wand to somebody who is not Ministry approved I could loose my entire business."

Harry assumed that he could ask Amelia Bones to permit him to get another wand. Next time he met Voldemort, he wanted to be ready and that meant a new wand. He could only hope that Amelia Bones would permit him to get another wand.

He looked at his watch, and noticed it was now 3:15 pm. He made his way to _Flourish and Blotts_ and entering the store he noticed that it was not too busy. Not knowing exactly what each book contained, Harry figured that it would be best to just grab an owl order form and then leave.

While the clerk brought the owl order form out, Harry decided to keep perusing the shelves. He found one at the back of the wall. It was a dusty shelf and looked kind of hidden. You really had to look to find this section. He decided to pick up the following tittles: Defense and Offense of the Mind, Hexes and Curses, The Self-updating Book of Law, Australian Aborigines Magic, and Magic of the Ancient Americas. From that section, Harry found himself in the Trades section. He found some very interesting books and decided to pick Building Your Magical Home, Japanese Sword Making and Creating Magical Artifacts.

He put them all in his cart brought them to the clerk. Harry decided that if he went any further he wouldn't be able to fit all of his purchases in his trunk. He patiently waited at the counter for the clerk to finish ringing in his books. Finally the women finished and told him it would cost him 95 galleons. Harry picked up all of his books and made sure that they were properly stowed in his trunk.

He then reduced and pocketed his trunk, pulling his hood over, making sure that his face was properly covered. One can never be too careful even with disillusionment charms. As Mad Eye would say, CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

Harry had one more store in Diagon Alley to go to. He needed to find a well-stocked apothecary and get three new potion kits. He also needed a fully stocked potions cabinet for professional potion makers. He felt that Potions was his weak subject and planned on doing a fair amount of studying in that particular area.

Because of this, he walked down to the Apothecary in order to buy a new set of ingredients, a second cauldron, another set of crystal vials, and some neutralizing potions in case he messed up while he practiced brewing potions.

Harry decided to call it quits after he finished purchasing the potions supplies and went back to the Leaky Cauldron to get into muggle London, where he made an appointment with the Eye Specialist for the next day. Harry also went ahead and leased the largest storage space available; stating that he would be traveling and he liked everything of his, locked up in storage space, which was a lot cheaper that having to pay house rent.

Harry, having finished his shopping, was at his personal jail by 4:00 pm, and he was happy to see that there was no one waiting inside the house as he quietly entered through the back door. This meant that Moody had not been on duty today and that nobody would be the wiser of what Harry had been able to accomplish.

Harry then informed Sandy that he was going into the trunk and would stay there for a week or two and to get what ever she required for living in there in an hour, after he finished his late lunch she provided.

x-o-x-o-x-o-x


	4. Chapter 4 Steps Towards Victory

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters and locations belong to JKR and her agents, I'm only playing in her sandbox._

_Rated: M._

_Ships: Harry Potter/Susan Bones_

_Genre: Adventure/Romance_

_First five chapters are by vicky0958 with my editing._

_Beta for this chapter is Herman Tumbleweeds with my thanks for catching several errors I missed._

**

* * *

Harry Potter and his Destiny**

**Chapter 4: Steps Towards Victory.**

Harry was still dealing with the fact of his betrothal to Susan. When his mother had told him about the betrothal and soul bond, he had been initially shocked and dismayed. On reflection however, maybe that was why he'd felt that something was missing from his life all these years. Of course he'd seen Susan often enough in the DA and had helped her find her own Patronus, but even before that, he'd noticed her. The short blonde Hufflepuff was hard to miss! Now that they were about to enter their sixth year at Hogwarts, he'd noticed how her body had filled out beautifully, even if her robes tended to hide her assets most of the time. Being a somewhat hormonal teenager, Harry wondered why someone had not claimed her, although he suspected some had tried. She was always with Hannah Abbott whenever he saw her and figured that they looked out for one another. Oh what he'd give to have a peek under those robes. Harry blushed at the thought; after all, they were betrothed and he'd eventually get his wish. He couldn't wait to see her again.

…..

During the two weeks Harry spent in the trunk, he learned about what his mother did for a living. She had been able to improve on the polyjuice potion so that its length would be increased, but for how long exactly she could not say for sure. Besides this, it turned out that his mother had invented the spells that were used on Moody's eye-ball which allowed him to be able to see through not only invisibility cloaks, but even solid objects. But possibly the biggest potential discovery that his mother had made was that she had finally created a charm that would allow muggle electronic devices to work in magical areas. The biggest benefit that Harry could see with this was so that Harry would be able to get a cell phone and be able to talk to anyone that had one, no matter where he was located.

Looking at the charm for the muggle electronics Harry realized that it would be too advanced for him to actually recreate, which meant that he would have to find someone to help him. Thinking about this for a few minutes he realized that the best people to help him would be Fred and George as they were incredibly creative with their charms in pranking, and since Harry gave them the money to start their shop he figured that when he next saw them, it would be an intelligent idea to talk them into making the charm work.

With those things out of the way, Harry set about writing a letter to Madam Bones, as not only was she his fiancé's legal guardian but she would also be the best bet to help him with legal matters regarding the relationship.

_Madam Bones,_

_I am writing this letter for two reasons and I hope that you will bear with me if I am out of place in one request. The first reason that I am contacting you is that I was recently made aware of the betrothal contract between your niece and myself. As I have just learned about this, I was wondering if it would be possible for you and your niece to get together with me for lunch? Now my second reason for contacting you is that I would like some legal advice concerning several situations that have taken place over the past year. The reason that I am asking the head of Magical Law Enforcement for legal advice is that sooner or later you will be considered family due to the betrothal contract. If you would be willing to meet with me, please do not tell Susan about any legal advice, as I would rather not have her needlessly worrying about anything._

_Sincerely,_

_Harry James Potter._

_P.S: I hope this letter finds you and Susan well._

After writing the letter, Harry talked to Sandy about his mother and what his parents were like before their deaths. As Harry and the house elf talked, he realized that Sandy, in fact, knew that Harry had an important role to play in the war that was taking place, although she did not know exactly what role it would be. Since this was the case, Harry asked if she knew any way for him to be able to find a person to help him be properly taught; that is to say, at the very least teach him things that he should have known by now as well as things that he would need later in life. Sandy responded by saying that if Harry wrote the letter she would deliver it.

_To Whom It May Concern:_

_I am writing this letter in the hopes that whoever receives it would be willing to consent to teach me. This is not an apprenticeship that I am talking about but I have realized that there are some things that I need to know or to relearn so as to help improve my life expectancy. I fully understand if you are not willing to teach someone that is near the top of the death list of the Dark Lord, but if you are unsure, remember that I am willing to pay for your services if needed._

_Sincerely,_

_Harry James Potter._

Harry also wrote to the twins asking them to meet up with him the next day.

_Fred and George_

_I would like to meet you both tomorrow at the Leaky Cauldron at 1:00 pm. I have some things that I want you both to work on. Let me know if the timing is ok with you. Don't let anyone know that we will be meeting. I don't want anyone to know what we are up to._

_Harry._

By the time Harry had finished writing the letters, Sandy was no longer in the trunk, so he decided to step out for a minute, to see what she had done to the bedroom. Stepping into Dudley's second bedroom, Harry saw all the changes that Sandy had done and was pretty impressed. Dudley's toys were missing, the room was a lot cleaner, the table was fixed, and a couple more chairs were present. His bed had been changed into one just like the one in the trunk, a four-poster, with green and gold colors decorating it.

As Harry was writing the letters, Sandy went to Hogwarts to speak with Dobby and Winky about working for her master. Although Dobby agreed instantaneously, Winky was a little worried whether Harry Potter would like her or not, but agreed after a lot of convincing from Dobby. While Sandy returned to Privet Drive, Dobby and Winky went to inform the Deputy Headmistress that they had found a family and would be leaving Hogwarts.

"Harry, Sandy is sorry to keep you waiting," Sandy said not knowing how her master would react.

"Its okay Sandy, you did a great job with this room. Now where did you disappear to?"

"I went to Hogwarts, to meet with house elves about serving the Potter family."

"Oh"

"They will be here soon, Harry."

"So they have agreed to bond with me?"

"Yes, Harry."

"Ok, here is the letter you asked me to write, I only ask you to use it when you are fully able to trust the person," Harry said, handing the letter to Sandy. "The other letters I'd like delivered personally as well."

"I will be working on it right away, Harry, and Dobby and Winky can take care of things here, unless you have something for me?"

"No, you are free to go on those errands, Sandy, but do not take any unnecessary risks."

"Yes Harry, I will make sure I am safe," said Sandy, before she disappeared with a pop.

As Harry waited for Dobby and Winky to arrive, he realized that he would need to find something for each of them to do, because at the moment he did not know where he was going to live, so cleaning or setting up a house was out of the question. A minute later Harry had the air partially knocked out of him as a multi-colored blur tackled him.

"Dobby get off," Harry said impatiently.

"Dobby is sorry Harry Potter Sir; Dobby is happy to see you Sir."

"Its okay Dobby, I understand. Now on to the matter of why you came here. I know that Sandy has asked you both, but I wanted to ask you both again," Harry paused a moment and continued. "Dobby, Winky do you both want to work for me and my future family from this point forward?"

"Yes" shouted Dobby, while Winky was a little scared, as if it was all a dream.

"Does Harry Potter Sir really want Winky to work for him?" asked Winky in a slightly drunk voice.

"Yes, Winky I would like you to work for me."

After successfully bonding the two house-elves to the Potter family, Harry set them about the tasks of acquiring food, as well as cleaning certain areas of Grimmauld Place. This was the best that Harry could do with the Order headquarters, as it would look very suspicious if the whole place suddenly became clean.

After doing this, Harry began to look through the law books to see what exactly was legal in terms of contracts. There were two reasons for this; the first was to see if there would be a way to create a contract with the twins so that they would be in a situation where their business with Harry could not be discussed with others unless approved by all the participants involved in the contract. The second reason was so that he would understand marriage contracts and what exactly was legal to be in the contract, just in case someone tried to manipulate him. He also wished to know if he could either break a contract or change what the contract would state.

As Harry went to bed he began to think about how Susan would react to Harry, not knowing that he in fact knew about the marriage contract. Did she even know that they were soul mates? Would Amelia tell her?

Harry got up early to prepare for the long day ahead. After taking a shower and sitting down to eat the breakfast provided by Winky, Hedwig arrived with the replies to all the letters. Sandy also came back with the reply to the letter he wrote. Fred and George replied that they would like to meet Harry at The Leaky Cauldron at 10:00 am instead of 1:00 pm, so that they could delay the opening of their shop instead of having to shut down in the middle of the day. Amelia Bones replied that he should meet her at 11:00 am for the meeting at the Ministry and then they could go for lunch, picking up Susan on the way.

Harry received a shock when he read the letter that Sandy had brought.

_Mr. Harry James Potter,_

_We, that is my wife and I, do not know how you knew that we are alive and not dead as the Wizarding world thinks. It's a mystery to us, but at the moment, that is not important. Now on to the matter of us helping you, we would be glad to help you but we would like to talk to you personally about expectations and what the training would cover. The parchment you are holding is a Portkey to my place. Feel free to drop by when you are free._

_Nicholas and Pernelle Flamel._

Harry quickly got over his shock**,** and asked Sandy how she found the Flamels. As he remembered, he expected them to be dead after what Dumbledore had told him about destroying the Philosopher's Stone at the end of Harry's first year.

"Harry," the small elf replied, "We elves can find anybody and Sandy knew old sneaky-beard did not destroy the Stone, but he didn't return it either. Sandy took the Stone from his hiding place and the Stone led me to the Flamels."

"Excellent, Sandy! That lying, manipulative old bastard had better watch his back. I hope the Flamels know what he did."

"Oh yes, Harry, Sandy made sure they did, and Mr. Flamel was most appreciative."

Realizing that he had best get moving, Harry took his wand and then covered himself with his invisibility cloak so as to get out of the house unseen. He summoned the Knight Bus before slipping off the invisibility cloak and getting on board. As no one stopped him, Harry figured that Mad-Eye was not on duty and that he wasn't being followed. Unknown to Harry that was not the case, as Moody followed under his own invisibility cloak.

After being told by the eye doctor about the importance of getting his eyes checked regularly, he was given a set of tests to check his vision. Then he was given a new prescription and another appointment was made for next year.

Once he received the prescription, he headed through the building to the other end so as to get a new set of glasses as well as information about contact lenses, as he was not sure whether he wanted them or the benefits. It took a little while but eventually Harry left with a new set of glasses with a thin gold frame**,** as well as the necessary information about contact lenses.

After that, he went to The Leaky Cauldron where he requested a private room for the day, and asked Tom to send the Weasley twins to the room when they arrived. It was only a few minutes that Harry was alone before the twins arrived. Over a round of butterbeers, they talked about Harry's ideas and the best ways to implement them. It took a little while for both sides to be satisfied with the contract, as Harry did not want to be a shareholder in the store. The twins did not like the idea of not being able to sell any idea that they got from Harry without his complete consent**,** nor did they like not being able to sell a product that could be similar to the ideas that Harry's mother developed. But, the twins finally relented on those issues and everyone parted happy. The twins, Harry had reminded them, could stand to make a lot of money off those discoveries and ideas.

Harry finished the discussions with the twins and gave them his mother's charm work to be read in private. He also informed them that he wanted them to work on the cell phones immediately and to keep him informed about their progress. As he left, Harry informed Tom that he would be returning for lunch with company after he finished his other business. Harry used Tom's private floo to arrive at the office of Amelia Bones directly after getting her permission.

Harry told her all he had come to know about the things that Dumbledore had hidden, such as his parents will, how Dumbledore disregarded it and how his life was in danger every year he attended Hogwarts. Harry then proceeded to tell Amelia about how Fudge had been told that Voldemort was back after the tournament, how he sent Umbridge to keep it in the Dark. He also told that it was Umbridge who sent the Dementors after him last summer**,** and how Fudge used that reason to call the whole Wizengamot and tried to send him to Azkaban. She was at the trial and aware how Fudge tried to railroad him. He also proceeded to tell her how Umbridge refused to teach spells that would be needed for OWLs on the basis that all it took to perform a spell perfectly, was an understanding of the theory and about how she used a blood quill in detentions on students. After his explanation, Amelia asked whether he had evidence of all the things he told her. Harry simply provided his memories and said that he was ready to take veritaserum to prove the complaints.

"Harry, you can do two things with the evidence you presented to me. First is to just make the complaints now and get them sent to Azkaban, or you can make sure that all the evidence is recorded and use it as leverage later. I personally think that you'd be better to use the evidence later as leverage."

He thought about that for a minute, then replied, "Thank you for the advice. I think the second option is the best. Now how about I get all this evidence recorded."

At that, Amelia called someone from the Department of Mysteries to record the evidence. After the evidence was recorded, along with a statement from Harry under veritaserum, Amelia asked where they were going for lunch.

"I have reserved a private room at The Leaky Cauldron for lunch," answered Harry, nervous about the Susan's reaction.

Seeing Harry's nervousness, Madam Bones said, "Relax Harry, Susan has known that she was betrothed since she was eleven," correctly guessing why he was nervous.

Harry's nervousness only increased when he heard that, with thoughts of why Susan didn't tell him about it, how angry she might be, as she knew that he dated Cho Chang last year. Madam Bones told Harry that she would meet him with Susan at The Leaky Cauldron and told him to relax in the meantime. Harry flooed back to The Leaky Cauldron and sat down in the private room, waiting for Susan and Madam Bones to arrive, while drinking butterbeer, trying to cool down his nerves. After half an hour, there was a knock on the door, opening it, he saw Susan with Madam Bones.

x-o-x-o-x-o-x


	5. Chapter 5 Confrontations

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters and locations belong to JKR and her agents, I'm only playing in her sandbox._

_Rated: M._

_Ships: HarryPotter/Susan Bones_

_Genre: Adventure/Romance_

_First five chapters are by vicky0958 with additions by me._

_My beta for this story is Herman Tumbleweeds who has helped immensely getting this chapter straightened out._

**

* * *

Harry Potter and his Destiny**

**Chapter 5: Confrontations**

"Hello Susan, Amelia, won't you come in?" Harry asked, suddenly feeling shy.

As the pair entered the private room that Harry had reserved at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry bade them be seated in the comfortable chairs that Tom had provided.

"Hi Harry," Susan greeted him as she was taking her seat. "Are those new glasses?" he nodded. "They look really good on you Harry. Auntie told me that you just found out about the marriage contract. I didn't tell you before because I didn't want to upset you. I knew I'd have to tell you this year though, before you got tangled up in a relationship that would be hard to break."

"I think I understand, Susan. Did Amelia also tell you we are soul mates?" "Soul mates Harry?" She grinned, "I've suspected that from the first time I saw you when you were sorted. Didn't you feel a connection then? And no, Auntie didn't tell me about that."

Harry blushed and admitted that he'd felt something. "Yeah, but I didn't know what it was at the time. I've always had an eye on you though, as if you were something special to me that I couldn't quite figure out. When I was teaching you in the DA, it kind of felt… well intense. When I was close to you, my ears got red and I couldn't think straight this year. I'm surprised I could manage to teach you anything with the way my body reacted." At this point, Harry blushed a deep scarlet.

"Harry, relax, we need to get to know each other better. Now Auntie needs to explain about the marriage contract. She hasn't told me much yet, other than we were betrothed since we were babies."

Amelia started, "You two are required to wed within the next year, preferably sooner rather than later. The contract has magic to enforce it and will strengthen both of your magical cores. You will soon be much more aware of the other's needs, and when you marry you will share much more. Your mother Lily was a clever witch and managed to imbue rather a lot of special protections into the marriage contract so that when it is consummated they will take effect. I don't know what they are, as Lily wouldn't confide in me. She only told Alice Longbottom, and she implemented the same protections for Neville and his soul mate."

"Consummated? Um, does that mean what I think it means?" Harry asked, turning bright red.

Susan giggled. "Yes, Harry, sex. Get used to it, I've been looking forward to it all year, but we'll wait until we're married. I know you'll enjoy it… that we'll enjoy it." She was blushing rather brightly now as well.

Quickly changing the subject, Harry asked, "Do you know who Neville's soul mate is? My mother mentioned Neville, but didn't say who his soul mate was.

"No, Lily didn't know, and Alice is in the long term spell damage unit at St. Mungo's, along with her husband Frank."

"Do you think Neville knows?"

"It's possible that his Grandmother, Augusta Longbottom told him," Amelia replied. In any case, they'll find each other in time. The spells on the marriage contracts will ensure it."

"Auntie, if there's nothing else, could we eat? I'm starved."

"Harry?" Amelia queried.

"Tom will bring us lunch in a moment. I just have to let him know. I'm afraid it's just sandwiches and soup."

After the quick lunch, Amelia excused herself. "I'll leave you two to get to know each other better; I'm due back at the office for a meeting. If you two will excuse me?"

"Of course, we need to talk," they replied simultaneously. They looked at each other and grinned. It seemed as if the contract had a few unintended side effects.

As soon as Amelia left, Susan grabbed Harry and pulled him to her, surprising him. "Relax Harry, I won't bite… much. I just wanted to feel what it was like to hug you."

His arms reflexively wrapped around her. "Um, S-Susan," Harry stuttered, turning red again. "I know we're supposed to marry and that you're my soul mate, but, um, I'm new to this sort of thing. The only people that have ever hugged me are Mrs. Weasley and Hermione. N-not that I don't l-like it, but erm…" Harry tried to adjust himself, as his other wand had started to tent when Susan's ample chest met his.

"Harry!" Susan giggled. "Maybe we'd better sit down before your wand takes control of the wizard." Finally she broke out in laughter at the look of chagrin on his face. "Sorry, Harry, that was mean of me. Relax; we have a lot to talk about. Now, tell me what you've been doing this summer."

Harry finally regained control of his embarrassment as they sat down and he told her more about his mother's Pensieve memory. "She warned me to avoid Dumbledore at all costs, but I'd already decided to do that," he continued. "He's the cause of all our problems. My mother didn't trust him and neither do I, nor should you.

"I've had a really shitty childhood, living with my Aunt and Uncle and their baby whale of a son. Please don't ask me to go into that right now, it's really painful and it's entirely the Headmaster's fault. He's the one who put me there and insisted I return each summer."

He told her about his meeting at Gringotts and what his house elf Sandy had told him. He wrapped up with, "We've only really talked in classes and the DA until now, so tell me a bit more about yourself."

Susan gasped at the news that Dumbledore had denied him his heritage and of knowing that he was very wealthy, but was practically incensed about the Dursleys. She set that aside for the moment, though. "Well, you may know that I was an only child, much like yourself. Death Eaters recently killed my parents and Auntie has been taking care of me. I've never had a boyfriend, since I knew about the marriage contract, obviously. My best friend is Hannah Abbott, but I think you knew that." Harry nodded and bade her to continue. "Let's see… I'm really good at Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, finishing just behind Hermione and Padma. That could be useful. Potions is my weak subject, but that's because of Snape. He doesn't really teach, does he?" Harry had to agree with her there. "My birthday is July twenty-third, when's yours?"

"Mine is July thirty-first. I'll be sixteen in two weeks."

"Excellent, we're only a few days apart, but I'm older," she smirked. "Oh, you'll be marrying an older woman. Does that make me a dirty old woman?" she laughed.

At his slightly stricken expression, she told him, "I'm teasing, Harry. You need to loosen up."

Harry smiled wanly and finally got the joke. "Oh! I forgot! He exclaimed, You need to meet my familiar! §Narak§," he whispered in parseltongue. The Occamy unwound itself from his arm and made itself visible, startling Susan, who flinched and leaned as far back as she could. §Sso thiss iss Ssussan. Sshe's very pretty§, hissed Narak.

"Harry! Th-that's an Occamy! They're extremely poisonous!"

"It's okay, Susan. Narak won't attack any friends of mine and especially you. It's a shame you aren't a Parselmouth, he's really very nice and would like to get to know you. We can talk mind to mind and I'm immune to his poison."

Susan shuddered, but finally reached out a tentative hand and stroked the scaly skin. Narak slithered onto her arm, tasting the skin with his tongue before returning to Harry's arm. §Sshe iss a good match, master. I can bond with her too if you like§.

§Later Narak, I have much to do before we think of that§.

"Susan, Narak would like to bond with you too, but we should leave that until later if you don't mind. He'll give you some protection, just as he does for me."

They continued to talk for another hour until it was time to go. Bidding each other farewell, Harry was less surprised this time when Susan hugged him again. This time he hugged her back, feeling more comfortable about it now. As their eyes met, she leaned in and gently kissed him. It was a fleeting kiss, but to Harry it felt wonderful. She blushed and quickly pulled away. Turning, she waved goodbye and said over her shoulder, "I'll see you soon, Harry.**,**" and was gone before he could gather his senses.

"Bye," he whispered, dazed at what just happened.

…

Harry was able to make many connections in the next month. Nicholas Flamel was one of them; a truly wise man who gave many ideas and advice to him, sending books on potions, Arithmancy, and Runes and explaining them thoroughly through his letters. It was his idea for Harry to take his NEWTs two years early through the help of a time turner, which he had provided. Although Harry didn't need the time turner, he accepted it, as they were very rare and Ministry controlled.

"Susan, I think I'd like to take my NEWTs early. Would you be interested in joining me? I have a special trunk my mum left me that allows me to spend an indefinite amount of time inside while no time passes outside."

Susan debated for awhile. The idea certainly appealed to her and Amelia didn't have to know right away, since no time outside would pass. "How long would we spend inside, Harry? Is the trunk equipped for a long stay?"

"We'd spend a full term inside; about nine months. There is enough food and provisions for that, and we can always pop out for something if there's an emergency," Harry answered.

"In that case, I think it's a marvelous idea. What about sleeping arrangements?"

"Umm… err… well, you c-can s-sleep with me?" Harry knew the trunk had three bedrooms, but hoped that Susan would consider a closer arrangement.

"Harry! Well… maybe. We'll figure something out."

Harry grinned, knowing he probably would be able to convince her. After all, Susan had shown that she wasn't very shy around him.

….

Harry was just getting into bed after a long day. This ended with a long talk with, Moody, Nicholas Flamel, Susan Bones, Amelia Bones and the twins. Just then Fawkes arrived with a letter from Dumbledore in his usual way.

_Harry_

_There will be a guest staying with you for the remainder of your stay at the Dursleys. Remus Lupin will shortly arrive with the guest to see to it that everything goes accordingly._

_Albus Dumbledore._

Harry's first reaction was anger at Dumbledore for locking him at the Dursley's and on top of that, he was sending one of his people to stay with him; to spy on him. But after calming down, Harry decided to see who his guest was.

To his surprise, Remus arrived with a very pale Neville and his Grandmother, Augusta Longbottom, within minutes of his getting the letter from Dumbledore. Remus informed Harry that Neville was the one would be staying with him and that he would talk with the Dursleys. Neville told him that there was an attack on St. Mungo's and his parents were targeted and were now missing. Mrs. Longbottom immediately contacted Dumbledore for Neville's protection and they decided that Neville would be safest at Harry's place and she had joined the Order once again. Neville told Harry that his grandmother was an Obliviator for the Ministry in the first war. The arrival of Neville was a shock as well as a surprise to him, but not an unpleasant one.

Harry immediately asked Neville to ask his grandmother to send him books on Occlumency and that he would explain everything after the elders left. Neville's grandmother sent a couple of books on that subject for them the next day.

…..

"I trust you Neville, Did your Gran tell you about the protections my Mum put on us?"

"Yeah, she told me ages ago. She warned me not to tell you until you acknowledged them as well. She figured it was your call to bring the subject up."

"Did she also tell you about your soul mate?" Harry asked.

"Yes, she's to be my betrothed," he answered.

"Well yes, I figured that out. I'm betrothed as well."

"So who is she, Harry?"

"Susan Bones. We felt the connection first year, but I was too dense to realize it. You can't tell anybody, Neville. Promise me. If Voldemort or the Death Eaters found out, she'd be in danger."

"I promise," Neville replied.

"So who's your betrothed?"

"Sorry, I'm not supposed to say. Gran made me promise."

Although Neville refused to tell Harry who his betrothed was and was unable to find out which house she was in; he learned that Neville trusted her.

…..

Harry had introduced Susan and Neville to his magical trunk and the three of them decided to study for their NEWTs inside.

Susan decided that she liked sleeping with Harry and although they hadn't been intimate yet, she knew it was only a matter of time. After all, Neville had his own room.

The three were taking a break from studying as they had only another three months' worth of study to get through their NEWTs. Taking NEWTs early was an idea from Nicolas Flamel so that Harry could dedicate his time to learn the skills necessary for him to get rid of Voldemort.

"Neville?"

"Yes Harry?"

"I have an idea how to destroy Voldemort, but I'll need some help from you."

"You don't have to ask me Harry, I'll gladly go along with you if it is within my power."

Harry was not sure how to proceed with asking him about the rituals they must do, as he didn't know about the old ways, or that it was an honor to ask someone to be a blood brother in the old families, although the Ministry banned those rituals. Finally gathering his courage Harry blurted it out. "Will you be willing to perform the rituals to make us blood brothers?"

"Harry do you know what you are asking?" questioned Neville.

"Yes Neville, by performing these rituals we will be able to share the blood protection ritual that our parents did on us." Harry found out from the diaries that his mother left him that his and Neville's parents both did a ritual that protected them if both father and mother died. That is what had saved Harry from the Killing Curse, and it was the only counter they knew to it. Lily had found this in an ancestor's journal in the Potter library and was unknown to the rest of the Wizarding World. They could bring down Voldemort together, but it would be a lot of work..

"By sharing our blood, we'll negate the ritual that Voldemort did when he took my blood. Your blood will change mine enough that he will not be able to use the blood connection."

"If you're sure Harry, I will be happy to accept the offer."

Harry and Neville ended up preparing everything for more than six months in the trunk. After they perfected the runes and incantations of the rituals, they encountered a problem of having no place to perform the ritual.

Harry ended up asking help from Moody to suggest a place to perform the ritual. Moody had turned out to be a most trusted advisor and a hard bargaining mentor for him. At the start of his training Mad-Eye was ready to hex him into the next year, but Harry was able to convince him well enough to get him to help. They had then gone to Amelia Bones to show the retired Auror the evidence he had against Dumbledore and Snape along with some others.

Moody, although he didn't want Harry to delve into rituals, understood the need, as the protection from the Killing Curse could let him battle Voldemort to a new level unseen by any. So, he suggested they contact Ollivander, as he had access to a remote ritual room. Ollivander though, was a different personality. After listening to all that Harry had to say, agreed and suggested a slightly changed ritual, which ended up giving 'The power he knows not', to both Harry and Neville. It ended up giving Harry and Neville the ability to talk mind to mind if they were close enough.

Neville and Harry could now speak mentally if they wanted to, but it didn't allow them to see each other's thoughts and memories. It was a great way, as they both decided to fight 'till the end, side by side. Neville's confidence had grown by leaps and bounds after the Ritual. But sadly, he was still waiting for information on what was being done about finding his parents who were kidnapped from St. Mungo's. His determination had tripled at the thought that there may be a way to save them, although he had his bouts of depression, the same as Harry did over the loss of Sirius.

Harry, Susan and Neville finished their NEWTs with flying colors. Harry and Susan got all O's in their OWLs last year. While Neville got an E in potions but got O's in all his other subjects. In their NEWTs, the boys had gotten mostly O's with a couple of E's on the tests. Susan had aced them all with straight O's. The trio were jubilant, as it meant they no longer had to return to Hogwarts.

…..

Harry was now waiting for the Order members to pick him up for his meeting, or rather interrogation, with Professor Dumbledore. He was able to keep all his activities a secret from Dumbledore until a week prior, with the help of Mad-Eye Moody and Amelia Bones. That is until a certain animagus beetle somehow found its way into the Department of Education at the Ministry and the Prophet published the story of Harry, Neville, and Susan taking their NEWTs. Moody was looking out for Harry and when he found out that Rita Skeeter had written the article in the Daily Prophet, and that she was an unregistered animagus, he made sure that she wouldn't interfere again. Rita was reported missing by the end of July, thanks to Mad-Eye.

Harry sat on his trunk in the living room thinking about the changes that happened in the past month, in the real world. But to him it had been more or less three years of study and practice along with his blood brother Neville, and betrothed, Susan. Harry and Neville, and Susan to a lesser degree, had perhaps broken a dozen laws to make it happen.

Albus was furious when he found out that Harry had already taken his NEWTs. Dumbledore and Fudge tried to stop his declaration as an adult stating that he was still a child, but Amelia Bones and Augusta Longbottom came to his rescue, bringing up an old law that if a person is the last of his line and has finished his education then he must be declared an adult in every way. Harry was sure that there would be many confrontations at the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Remus Lupin and Moody appeared in the living room as Neville made his way downstairs, dragging his trunk.

"Well what are we waiting for lets go," Harry said getting up from the trunk he was sitting on, successfully avoiding the talk Remus was sure to want. Harry and Neville picked up their trunks as Moody produced a rope to hold and activated the portkey after everyone grabbed it. The four wizards vanished, leaving a stunned Petunia in the living room.

The four wizards appeared in front of the Headquarters in the middle of the street. Harry saw muggles on both sides of the street going on with their work as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. "A confundus and a muggle repelling charm. Really, the order should know better than this. "Do you think the Ministry and the Death Eaters would not get suspicious that magic is used in a muggle neighborhood?" Harry said, while disabling the charms. Remus Lupin was stunned with the level of maturity that Harry was showing, while Moody felt sick that he didn't think of it in that perspective.

They entered, thinking about the points that Harry had pointed out that had been overlooked by the Order. Harry again broke the silence by asking whose house had become the Headquarters and if it was safe for him or not.

"This is my property Harry, Remus replied. "You're perfectly safe here. Alright Harry, Neville; you both will be sharing with Ron. Ginny and Hermione will be in the…"

Actually, it's my property, Remus," Harry interjected. "Sirius left everything to me."

Remus' jaw dropped in surprise. He had thought that Sirius had left him everything.

Moody cut in, "Actually, Harry will be having his own room. Neville can room with Ron."

"But…" Moody again cut off Remus.

"No buts Lupin, you'll find out more at the meeting tonight." That shut up Lupin instantly, as Mad-Eye led Harry to his private room.

Harry spent the remaining time in his room strengthening his mental shields. He sensed someone trying to get into his mind and he didn't need Hermione to tell him that it was Voldemort trying to gain access. Harry decided to give Voldemort a surprise, and decided to intentionally let the bastard in for a moment so he'd find the trunk with a label named Prophecy on it, filled with magical arrows directed to attack the mind of the person who opened it other than himself. Harry knew that the label on the trunk alone would get the interest of Voldemort. He was not disappointed to hear Voldemort shouting and screaming after some time in his mind, although that gave him a headache. Harry then pushed Voldemort out of his mind and set to repairing his mental shields. Just as he finished strengthening his mind shields, Neville sent him a telepathic link asking him to come down to the parlor**,** as Moody wanted to speak with him.

"So what is it Mad-Eye?" started Harry after Neville, Moody and himself settled down.

"Harry, Sirius had left a sealed copy of his will, in Lupin's care, other than the copy with the Goblins. Dumbledore wants to read it at the Order tonight, so that he would know what Sirius had done about your guardianship."

"I'm already emancipated and at the will reading at Gringotts, Sirius left me everything. He will also offer me a chance to join the Order, which I will refuse of course. Don't worry Mad-Eye I will handle it," finished Harry.

Later that evening, Moody joined the meeting where Harry told just what happened to the wards. The will of Sirius basically left everything to Harry with some clauses that Remus Lupin must be given five percent of the entire fortune if he gave Harry an oath of loyalty of Harry's choice. Sirius also left him papers that emancipated him, which could only be filed if Harry finished NEWTs in Transfiguration, Charms and D.A.D.A.

Dumbledore pondered what to do and decided to invite Harry and Neville into the Order and sent Tonks to fetch them from their rooms. When they both arrived, Dumbledore started to talk as if they had already accepted to join the Order.

"Friends, I would like you all to welcome Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom into the Order. They both will be taking oaths stating that they will obey all the orders issued by the head of the Order; and also not to betray anyone in the Order."

"With all due respect Professor, I will not be joining the Order under any circumstances."

"Harry, you know that you are important to this war and you'll be trained to defend yourself if you join the Order."

"Sorry Professor but I must decline. You once said that you didn't tell me a lot of things because you wanted me to have a normal childhood. Well, I had a shitty childhood, thanks to you! Now I'm taking control of my own life. My destiny may be set, but I'll choose how I live it!"

"Alright Harry, I accept your logic but I have to remind you that you are forbidden to leave this house under any circumstances without a guard."

"Don't worry yourself with that Professor, Amelia Bones has assigned Kingsley and Tonks as my guards along with being my tutors for dueling. So anywhere I go they will go too. In any case, since this is my hose and I'm emancipated, you have no say what I do or where I go!"

"Arrogant as his father; using his fame to get his way," Snape said sarcastically.

Harry hit Snape with an immobilizing spell immediately. "Remember this Snape, I am no longer at Hogwarts and if you make any comment like that again, you'll be sent to Azkaban immediately for using Legilimency on me. Even Dumbledore will not be able to save you next time." Harry said with such a cold tone of voice, it sent shivers down Snape's spine.

"Harry, Professor Snape is our spy and is required to keep up his role."

Harry lost control with that statement. "Bullshit Dumbledore, you know there is no one in here that will tell Voldemort about his appearances here, except if he himself tells him. Don't you even start about him abusing his position at Hogwarts, making fourteen classes of Hogwarts graduates not able to make it into their dreamed of careers. I will tell you this: all through my education at Hogwarts, Snape kept telling me that I am no good at Potions but both Neville and I achieved O-plus in our NEWTS, so don't tell me what to do and not to do."

McGonagall angrily interjected, "Harry is right, Albus. I've told you numerous times to keep Snape in line, but you always shook it off as nothing."

Harry, stormed out of the meeting and up to his room.

As soon as everything had been calmed down a bit Neville spoke up. "Professor I would like to join the Order but I have some conditions."

"What are they Mr. Longbottom?"

"I want Snape tested for where his loyalties lie, with the help of Veritaserum which has been tested by Moody. The other condition is that I will give only one oath stating that I will never betray the light and always stay true to light side's efforts."

"Snape is on our side Mr. Longbottom, so I cannot allow your request."

"Then I'll not be joining the Order, Professor. Goodbye."

"Wait a minute Neville," he was stopped by Bill Weasley.

"Professor, we trust you but we want to know the reason behind the blind trust in Snape."

"I am sorry Mr. Weasley but I cannot give you the reason."

"Then I have no other choice Professor, I am quitting the Order."

"Me too," came a voice from Charlie Weasley.

"I never thought I would say this, but after hearing Harry, I quit, Professor," said Tonks, shaking her head.

"I'm with you Tonks.," someone said.

"I too quit, professor," came another voice from the back of the room.

"I'm sorry professor, but I also quit," came voices from Kingsley Shacklebolt, Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle.

"What can I do to change your minds not to quit?" Dumbledore asked, panicking.

"Nothing outrageous Professor," Kingsley said without emotion in his voice. "Just a questioning of Snape under Veritaserum about his loyalties, and we will continue questioning if he is not loyal to the order.

"I will agree to it if Moody does the actual interrogation," Dumbledore said, thinking that the old auror was on his side; Mad-Eye, on the other hand, wanted to get his hands on Snape from the first war to interrogate him.

The interrogation of Snape turned out to be lengthy after they found out that the supposed spy was not loyal to the Order _or_ Voldemort. Many startling discoveries were made by the time the questioning was over. Afterward, Neville gave his oath and joined the Order, all of which Harry was watching from under a disillusionment charm.

x-o-x-o-x-o-x


	6. Chapter 6 Hermione and Luna

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters and locations belong to JKR and her agents, I'm only playing in her sandbox._

_Rated: M._

_Ships: HarryPotter/Susan Bones_

_Genre: Adventure/Romance_

_First five chapters are by vicky0958. This chapter is the start my own work_

_Beta by Herman Tumbleweeds._

**

* * *

Harry Potter and his Destiny**

**Chapter 6: Hermione and Luna**

**Sydney, Australia: early August.**

Hermione had cried when her parents had removed her from Hogwarts. Despite the seemingly constant danger, she had formed a close friendship with Harry and Neville. She had put up with Ron for five years only because Harry was a best friend with the stupid, lazy git. Neville however had always been a good friend, if not so visible in Harry's coterie of acquaintances.

Now, she found herself shipped off to Australia with no friends. Sadness accompanied her all the way there. How was she to help Harry now? How would he cope without the research she always managed to do?

Wiping the tears away, she steeled herself, preparing to help him, even from this far away place. She could still research and maybe even find new sources in Australia. Her parents had chosen Sydney for their new home and Hermione searched for the nearest magical shopping area. She'd already been in contact with the Australian Wizarding Ministry and they had helped her to enroll in her new school. Wollongong School of Magicks was located down the coast from Sydney right on the coast. It would be a short Apparation away from home if she so chose. Unfortunately, she'd have to take her Apparation exam first and she was nervous about it. She still had two months to learn before school started, but had no one to practice with. Then, an almost unbelievable thing happened. While strolling one day in crowded downtown Sydney, she practically ran into Luna.

"LUNA! What are you doing here?"

Smirking, the dreamy eyed girl replied, "Hello Hermione, I might ask you the same thing. My father decided to check out some sightings of Humdingers that had been spotted near here, so we packed up for the summer; well, winter here, and here we are."

"Oh, Luna! It's so good to see you. You can't imagine what I've felt like. My parents removed me from Hogwarts for my own protection and we moved here! I don't know anybody and the seasons are all wrong, and I don't know what else. Harry…" she broke down, tears streaking her face, thinking about her messy haired friend. "He needs me, and I'm stuck here."

"Calm down, Hermione. I know it's not the ideal situation, but I can help both of you. Harry, Neville and Susan Bones took their NEWTs early. Apparently Dumbledore was not happy with that, since they don't have to attend Hogwarts anymore. Maybe we can get them to come here."

A glimmer of hope flashed across Hermione's face. "Y-you really think so? How did they manage that? We just finished our OWLs; NEWTs aren't until seventh year."

"I don't know, but Harry and Susan are evidently a couple now. And, all three are emancipated. Susan's aunt, Amelia, did the paperwork. Professor Dumbledore was furious when he found out."

"Harry and Susan?" She hadn't registered the fact that they were emancipated. Yet. "When did this happen? Harry only knew Susan through the DA I thought."

"Oh, you didn't know of the marriage contract?" Luna queried.

"Marriage contract? But… but, Harry isn't… No, I didn't know about that. Luna, we should go somewhere to talk. The street isn't the best place to discuss this.

They continued their talk in a private corner of the local library.

…

**London, early August:**

Susan and Harry were discussing what their next move would be. Neville was home with his Gran.

"Susan, we can't stay here forever, cooped up in this house. We need room."

"I agree, Harry. Even the trunk is wearing a bit thin after all the time we spent in it… although…" she giggled.

Harry remembered! The last month had been amazing. They had all but wrapped up their NEWT studying and were relaxing one evening.

(flashback)

Neville was in his room, preparing for his NEWT exams and relaxing, knowing Harry and Susan wanted to be left alone.

"Let's go to bed, Harry," she smiled shyly.

Harry hadn't caught on yet. "But it's early, Susan, why…?"

Susan giggled and tackled him. "Let**'**s go to BED, Harry," she said, a little more forcefully, emphasizing bed.

Harry wasn't that clueless and finally caught on. "Yes," he squeaked. "Bed, um, yeah, that's an excellent idea. Err, you're sure…?"

"Harry, BED, NOW!" she commanded. "We've waited long enough! We have to get married very soon. I want some practice first. Don't worry, I've practiced the contraceptive charm for a month now."

Harry blushed, but knew he was just as randy as Susan. "Um, Susan, I-I'm not sure… I mean, I've never done this before."

Susan giggled. "Harry, just be gentle, it's my first time too. I'm sure you aren't completely ignorant about what goes where and how. With a bit of practice…"

Presently, the squeaking of the bed and soft moans told the tale of the two lovers.

(end of flashback)

"More practice, you reckon?" Harry suggested.

"Excellent idea," Susan readily agreed.

Harry led Susan to their bedroom, divesting themselves of their clothes on the way.

Their next move was forgotten in the passion of their present moves.

…

**Grimmauld Place, London:**

Albus was furious, Snape had proved to be an untrustworthy liar and a traitor. After he had been questioned under veritaserum, Albus decided that Grimmauld place was no longer safe since the Fidelius Charm had fallen. It seemed that the bastard had also let Tom Riddle know the names of all the Order members. They would now be in danger, although that was a recent development. He'd have to warn all the members, although those present at the questioning probably realised they'd now have to go into hiding. "STUPIT GIT! How did I ever trust that man!" he fumed.

'_Potter! It was now imperative to bring him back into the fold. The Prophesy has taken on new importance now,'_ he thought. Neville had been a distant possibility to defeat the Dark Lord, but now he didn't know for sure. And what was Susan doing, taking her NEWTs as well as the two boys. Was she tied into this somehow? He'd have to ask Amelia what that was all about. _'How did Potter find out about Sirius' will and who told him he could be emancipated?'_ he wondered. Now he'd have to find a new Potions professor. Never mind he'd have to recast the Fidelius. He daren't make Harry the secret keeper. The way Potter was feeling, he could very well deny them access, and they needed Grimmauld Place as a secure meeting place for the Order. Maybe Remus. He'd have to ponder that, but he'd have to do it soon.

…

Severus Snape was hauled unceremoniously off to a secure detention cell deep inside the Ministry. Amelia wasn't finished with him yet. Mad-Eye had turned him over to her the same day that he'd questioned the slimy git. Snape was definitely having a bad day. The dungeon below the courtroom was damp and cold. Shivering, he wondered why he'd chosen the wrong side. He'd already tested the anti-apparation field and found it frustratingly secure. They'd also found his emergency portkey and confiscated it, not that it would have done any good here. He was sure the wards would have prevented use of it. _'Doomed!'_ he thought. 'No escape and Azkaban awaits unless I can talk my way out of this. Surely the Dark Lord will free me after all the spying I've done for him.' But then he thought, 'I'm still useful to the Dark Lord as a Potions Master. Of course he'll still Crucio me.' He shuddered at that thought. Voldemort was never easy on those that failed him.

…

Neville wondered where his soul mate was. He'd left a message with her after he'd met Harry and before they went into the trunk. His Gran had cautioned him not to reveal his soul mate to anyone, but now that Harry had told his story and he'd met Susan, he figured it was about time for the four of them to get together. _'Where is she? Why hasn't she answered my owl? It's been months, at least for me, and I miss her,'_ he worried.

Harry was visiting Susan at Amelia's manor in Devon. The beautiful manor house was much larger than Grimmauld Place and made extensive use of light woods in its décor. Where Grimmauld Place was dark, cold and foreboding, Bones Manor was light, airy and warm. They were sitting comfortably in her bedroom on a very nice leather couch.

"Susan," Harry started, "we should think about a secure place to train, now that we've finished school. I'm thinking we should leave Britain, at least until we're properly trained. What do you think?"

"Is Grimmauld place not safe anymore?" she asked.

"Snape told Voldemort where the Order met, so no, it's not safe there." He replied.

"I don't know, Harry. You said that Hermione moved to Australia. Maybe we should think about joining her. You know she's the smartest witch in school, she'd be a great researcher."

"Australia. Hmm. Maybe. I'll have to talk to Neville. Hermione could certainly help,**;** that's if she would be willing. She still has to finish school though. That could be a problem. On the other hand, Australia sounds brilliant. It's far enough away that Voldie wouldn't think of looking for us there."

Susan snuggled closer to him on the couch pulling him down so that his head rested in her lap. He looked up into her brilliant blue eyes and pulled her down for a soft kiss, raising his head to meet her.

"Ahem!" Amelia broke the tender moment. "If you two lovebirds could spare the time, supper is ready."

"Thanks Auntie, we'll be right there. Let's wash up Harry."

After a wonderful supper of roast beef, potatoes and baby carrots, with a light pastry and ice cream for dessert, they retired to the lounge. Amelia brought them up to date on what had been happening around Britain.

"Voldemort has sent his Death Eaters on raids throughout the country, attacking known Muggleborns. The Creevey's and the Finch-Fletchley's were killed in the latest raid. They targeted the Grangers, but they were gone."

"Hermione Granger said they were moving to Australia, so she should be safe. I'll miss Colin and Dennis. Justin was a bit of a pain, but I surely didn't wish him dead. What happened to Snape?" Harry asked.

"He's presently awaiting trial in the secure dungeons at the Ministry. Mr. Snape provided us with some very interesting information, under veritaserum, of course. Perhaps even enough to bring down the Minister of Magic. He named a lot of Death Eaters that had been long suspected; Lucius Malfoy headed the list, but there were quite a few in the Ministry as well."

"I named Malfoy when I survived the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Fudge wouldn't listen. Well, wasn't he captured in the Department of Mysteries?"

"He was, but Fudge let him go. He claimed he was under the Imperius curse."

"What? That slippery bas… um, git. How weak-minded must he be? In any case, if he's a Death Eater, he'll be marked, and the only way he can be marked, is if he kills somebody," Harry raged.

"He's on the Hit Wizards' list now, along with several other well-known people," Amelia assured him.

…

**Sydney, Australia, mid August:**

Luna had left and returned home to Ottery St. Catchpole, leaving Hermione with a small hope that she'd be able to talk Harry and Susan into joining her here. Luna told her one more bit of news. Her Mum had told her just before she died that she was betrothed to Neville. She would be asking him to join them as well. Asking probably wasn't the right word since she seemed to have Neville wrapped around her little finger. Mr. Lovegood had readily accepted that his daughter would be married before she graduated, but was a bit surprised that his wife knew before Luna was born.

Hermione continued to study, in preparation for the new school year. The syllabus that the school provided was markedly different than Hogwarts. Wollongong taught some aboriginal magic's as well as some of the Japanese mind arts.

Early one morning, she found a Ministry owl with a letter tapping at her bedroom window. Letting the bird in, she untied the letter and found a spare Owl Treat in her bag to give to the feathered messenger. It was still winter in Australia, but Hermione found it quite pleasant. The temperature was moderate and the sun shone most days. Today, it was cloudy with a fine mist and a bit chilly, but nothing like London, or Scotland for that matter.

Opening the letter, she was surprised to see it was from the Department of Apparition, inviting her to take her test as soon as it was convenient. She found she could take her Apparition licence well ahead of British law that stated that you must be seventeen or of age. Smiling, she decided to find out everything she could about the practice. Hogwarts, A History, had gone into a fair bit of detail, but she needed someone to give her personal instruction. Fortunately, the Ministry provided a teacher, so she arranged for lessons. This had been one of the things that she'd been worried about since she'd registered at Wollongong's. It meant that she could live at home instead of school.

Her parents were pleased; their daughter would be able to spend much more time with them. They'd missed her, only seeing her for the summer holidays and Christmas, sometimes not even then.

They'd found a nice area in Sydney to set up their dentistry practice and although they hadn't many clients yet, word of mouth was spreading about the excellent care they gave.

A letter arrived by post near the end of August; Luna had talked to Neville and Harry. It seems that both boys were already planning to visit her in Australia. Luna had a problem though. She needed to attend school and her father wanted her to stay at Hogwarts, since he still published The Quibbler. She promised to write when things were sorted out. Hermione noticed tear stains on the letter and understood that Luna didn't want to part with Neville.

x-o-x-o-x-o-x


	7. Chapter 7 Preparations

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters and locations belong to JKR and her agents, I'm only playing in her sandbox._

_Rated: M._

_Ships: HarryPotter/Susan Bones_

_Genre: Adventure/Romance_

_First five chapters are by vicky0958. Chapter 6 is the start of my own work_

_Beta by Herman Tumbleweeds._

_

* * *

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**Harry Potter and his Destiny**

**Chapter 7: Preparations**

Luna arrived back in London from Sydney near the end of August and immediately contacted Neville. He, in turn, contacted Harry and Susan and met them at Longbottom Manor. After an awkward moment when Neville introduced Luna as his soul mate and betrothed, Luna brought them up to date on where she'd been.

"You saw Hermione?" Harry asked. "How is she?"

"She misses you, Harry. I told her about Susan. She was very surprised."

"Y-you told her about Susan? How did you find out?" Harry asked.

"My Mum, of course, she told me before she died. Surely you knew I was betrothed to Neville."

"No, Neville wouldn't tell us," Harry answered exasperatedly.

"Neville, why ever not?" Luna glared at her soul mate.

"It seemed too personal, love. I considered it when Harry told me Susan was his soul mate, but I dunno, it didn't seem like the right time," Neville blushed.

"Neville!" Luna stamped her foot. "Harry and Susan should have known ages ago."

"Well, I did," Susan replied. "At least I knew about Harry, nobody seemed to know about you and Neville."

"Nobody told me anything. I had to find out about Susan from my house elf, Sandy," Harry heatedly replied.

"Ooh, you have a house elf?" Luna sounded pleased.

"Yes, and she's been very helpful. She told me a lot about my parents."

….

The holidays were winding down and still Harry and Neville hadn't left for Australia. The problem was Luna's dad. She wanted to go, and Neville wanted her to go with them, but her dad was against it. He wanted his daughter close, even though Hogwarts might as well be on the moon for all the time he'd see her. Still, even with Luna reduced to tears, the quirky man resisted.

Neville refused to leave without his soul mate. Harry knew he'd have to find a way to convince Mr. Lovegood and he thought the best approach might be to remind him of the war that was heating up once again.

Harry had a hard enough time convincing Amelia to let Susan accompany him. That discussion had lasted until the wee hours one evening the previous week.

"Amelia, Britain isn't safe for Susan. As soon as Voldemort finds out about the two of us, it'll be hard to protect her here."

"Harry, I can protect her better than you. I have Aurors at my command; surely you can see that with the Ministry resources, she'll be safe."

"I only see that the Ministry Aurors are already spread too thin," Harry answered. "Australia isn't even on Voldemort's radar. We need to train and the best way to train is away from the threat."

"But I've assigned two Aurors to train you, they won't be available if you move out of the country."

"True, but Australia has Aurors, surely you have contacts there."

"If you move, I can't take the risk of contacting anyone over there. Leaks in the Ministry would lead straight to you."

Harry pondered a bit. "Well, I'll just hire my own when I get there. Susan and I are going to marry this year and I want her with me wherever I go. I have a few ideas to keep her safe."

"You'll let me know when you marry, Harry. She's all I have and I don't want to miss out on her wedding."

"Of course, Amelia. We haven't set a date yet, but soon."

In the end, Amelia relented and agreed that Susan would be safer away from Britain.

"You be sure to keep her safe, Harry. Promise me."

"You know I will, Amelia. She's my life, and soon to be my wife. I'd rather die than see her harmed," Harry replied.

….

**Sydney Australia:**

Days from school starting, Hermione was talking to her parents Monica and Wendell Granger, about Hermione's new school. Unfortunately, Hermione had her own agenda.

"Mum, I know you brought me over here to get away from the danger in Britain, but eventually I'll be involved anyway."

"What do you mean Dear?" Monica asked.

"Mum, I'm a witch, you don't think that Voldemort is going to stop at Britain, do you? He's after the world; it's just a matter of time before he gathers enough bigots to join him. Australia has its own pureblood agenda and would quickly follow Britain's lead."

"But…" Wendell started, "Isn't Dumbledore fighting him? Why do you have to be involved?"

"Dad, all the wizarding world is or will be involved. Harry Potter is the only one that can defeat him, and I need to help Harry."

"Just why do you need to help him?" her dad asked, suspiciously.

"He's my very best friend, Dad. I've always helped him."

"How can you help Harry from here when you'll need to focus on your schoolwork?" Monica asked. "You still have two years before you graduate, and goodness knows you aren't prepared to work in our world. You'd need additional schooling to even enter high school, much less university. You have a ten year old**'**s school education in our world. What could you possibly do?"

"Mum, I've kept up to your world as well. I study hard in both worlds. I could probably pass the required tests to put me in high school here. I'd just need some tutoring in Australian history. That's all beside the point though. I met my friend Luna Lovegood a few days ago and she thought she might be able to talk Harry and Neville and Harry's fiancé, Susan, into moving here. Luna still needs more schooling and is a year behind me. If she can manage it, they'll all be here."

"You'd have Harry here?" Monica gasped in horror. "Are you mad? He's the focus of that evil wizard. You'd be bringing him right to us!"

"Haven't you heard anything I've told you Mum? It's only a matter of time before he takes over and with my help, Harry will be able to defeat him before he becomes too powerful."

"But… but… Sweetie, we brought you here thinking to protect you. How can we do that if Harry's here. Won't Voldemort follow?"

Wendell interjected at that moment. "Hermione, are you sure there's not another reason you want Harry here? You tell me he's engaged, but what are your feeling toward him? It almost sounds as if you're in love with him."

"Daaad! Harry's like a brother to me. I'm not in love with him. He's been my best friend since we started school." Of course Hermione wouldn't admit, especially to her parents, that she had been in love with Harry. Now however, that was impossible with Susan betrothed to him. Still, a brother - sister relationship was almost as good. At least Harry would be close, and she liked Susan. _'I wonder if she'd share?'_ she thought guiltily. _'Stop that! Susan is his soul mate. I know I'd never share if I were in her position.'_

The talk continued all afternoon, but gradually the Granger parents came to accept that their daughter was not to be dissuaded.

….

Neville had been arguing persuasively with Xenophilius Lovegood about the need to move Luna to Australia with him and Harry. "She'll be safer there, sir. She's too exposed here and at Hogwarts. There have been terrible things that have happened there. Luna has been constantly bullied, and that is the least of it. Her housemates steal her clothing and she's constantly belittled and teased. The school itself isn't safe. Harry, Susan and I will be moving to Australia before the new school year starts, so Luna can enroll with Hermione Granger. Hermione moved because her parents deemed Britain and Hogwarts not safe. Can you do less? Please sir, Luna and I will be married this year, as will Harry and Susan."

Luna decided to add the coup de grace. "Daddy, there are lots of amazing creatures there for you to study…" she sing-songed.

Xenophilius knew when he was beaten. Sighing, he gave in. "Fine, I'm going to regret this I'm sure, but you'll take care of her and protect her with your life, Neville! I want a wizards oath!"

Neville gulped at that. Wizard oaths were notoriously tricky to word properly. One mistake could cost him his magic or his life. "Yes sir," he replied meekly. "On my magic, I'll care and protect Luna Lovegood with my life, to the best of my ability." A golden glow surrounded him and Luna squealed and hugged her betrothed.

….

After packing everything, the quartet headed to Heathrow and the long flight to Australia. Harry and Neville shrank their trunks and pocketed them, making sure that the girl's trunks were inside Harry's magical trunk. Hedwig had presented a problem, but that was solved by a nice check-in woman who assured Harry that she would be safe in a special cage in the belly of the aircraft.

….

**Malfoy Manor:**

Draco had been trying to stay out of sight; the Dark Lord creeped him out. Voldemort had moved into the manor and had been holding court with his Death Eaters for the past week. His father, locked up in Azkaban, had been unable to protect him. His mother cringed and cowered whenever the Dark Lord looked her way; there was no help on that front. Sneaking down to the dungeons, Draco hoped to hide before Voldemort noticed him and made him take the Dark Mark: the very thought revolted him. Truth be told, Draco was a coward who bullied his way through life on his father's coattails.

"Wormtail!" Voldemort summoned the obsequious balding man.

"Y-yes MY Lord?" he replied, bowing lowly.

"Get up, Wormtail! I have a job for you and that worthless coward Draco. By the way, where is the young scion of Malfoy?"

"I-I saw him sneaking down to the dungeons, My Lord."

"Find him and bring him here. We'll see if he's fit to serve me or end up as dragon food."

"Right away, My Lord."

After a bit of searching, Peter found Draco sneaking out a side door. "Draco, our Lord wants to see you. He has a special job for us."

Draco cringed at this. It seems that getting away today was not in the cards. Curse his father for getting the family mixed up in this. It was one thing to be a blood purist, quite another to fight a war for it. Draco hesitated before reluctantly following Peter.

….

**Grimmauld Place:**

Albus Dumbledore paced the floor impatiently, waiting for his trusted lieutenants to arrive. Meanwhile, Moody and Shacklebolt were discussing Harry Potter at the Ministry before attending the emergency meeting Dumbledore requested.

"Who are you supporting, Kingsley, Albus or Potter?" Alastor asked.

"Alastor, you know that Potter has become more independent and powerful, but we're dealing with the most powerful wizard in our world; crossing Albus would be very dangerous."

"I'm already supporting Potter, Kingsley. You need to take a stand. Potter will be the one to defeat Voldemort, not Albus."

"All right, but Dumbledore can't know, I'm already hiding my membership in the Order from Madam Bones."

"Yeah, but Amelia needs to know. It's dangerous to keep too many secrets and Amelia supports Potter," he growled.

"Okay, let's go see what Albus wants."

Arriving at Grimmauld Place, Mad-Eye and Shack made their way to the kitchen.

"Ah, Alastor and Kingsley, good to see you. What have you learned about Potter? Why did he take his NEWT's early and how was that even possible?" Dumbledore was still seething from the turnabout of his fortunes.**:** Potter no longer under his control and now Severus gone.

Moody chose to speak first. "The lad apparently got hold of a time-turner, Albus. Don't know where or how he studied, but it was apparently with Neville and Miss Bones. Why Susan chose to do that is a mystery to me."

"Susan Bones is of no consequence, Alastor. She probably asked her Aunt separately and studied at home. What did you learn Kingsley?"

Kingsley hadn't heard much and told Albus, but passed on the news that Snape was due to go to trial next week. Amelia would make sure he was sent to Azkaban. Voldemort had gone to ground but his Death Eaters were still active. The Creeveys and Finch-Fletchleys were killed in a raid and several businesses in Knockturn Alley were flourishing in the sale of dark artifacts. They had confiscated four illegal wands and arrested two marked Death Eaters.

"So, they're after Muggleborns again. It's sad to hear about students dying. What about Miss Granger and her parents? Any further word?"

"Well, you know that they left the country for Australia, but the Death Eaters attacked and destroyed their house, not knowing they weren't there."

"Sad, so sad. Miss Granger was perhaps the only one that Potter trusted. She could have been a valuable resource," Albus muttered.

"Albus, tread carefully with Potter," Moody warned. "Now that he's considered an adult, he has access to resources that he didn't have before. And, he doesn't trust you."

"I'll remember, Alastor, but I need him back under my control. I can't have him going off half-cocked and ruining all my plans. Do you know where he is? Perhaps Neville knows?"

"Both have disappeared, Albus; they haven't been seen in a week."

"Damn," Albus swore softly. Since his tracking instruments had been destroyed by the boy; he had no way to know anything about him anymore.

Alastor smirked. "Your plans, Albus? Just what plans are you referring to? Potter is making his own plans and I suspect they don't include anything you might dream up."

"Never mind, Alastor, Harry is important to the fight and must be guided to his destiny. Only I can do that."

"And what destiny is that, Albus?"

"There's a prophecy made that says he must kill Voldemort." Abus hesitated to mention that Harry had to die as well.

"Poppycock!" Mad Eye replied. "Prophecies are notoriously unreliable and open to many interpretations; that's even discounting if a real seer made them. Just who made the prophecy, Albus?"

"Never you mind. It's a real prophecy, that's all you have to know," Dumbledore replied.

"Enough of this nonsense, Albus. Best forget about young Harry, he's beyond your control now that he's emancipated and finished school."

"No! He must be brought back under my control! Our world depends on it."

Alastor had heard enough; the man was loosing what little sense he possessed. Bidding the barmy old goat goodbye, Alastor determined to help Potter in any way he could and to hell with Albus.

x-o-x-o-x-o-x


End file.
